"Yeah, But Can You Still Digitally Dance To It?": Editorial For Internet-Rap/Net-Rap
A review of an internet-rap article, "Rec Rooms to Chat Rooms: The Digitalization of Rap Spaces" (2025).
I had the chance to review a forthcoming article on internet rap (aka, net-rap) from the Journal of Hip Hop Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). The article presented some interesting points, while others could be developed a bit more. Contextualizing net-rap as an individual-community rap subgenre, the author (who was anonymous for the review) drew a broad range of issues from politics to gender issues, isolation to community, and global interviews with an analysis of discussion boards by net-rap fans.
The article here is part of my review and development on some of the points that could be developed further to help promote this unfolding, contemporary, digital Hip Hop discipline and art form.
The included videos are my additions to this addendum response. Many of the article-specific points have been removed to allow the current reader a chance to gain an understanding of this forthcoming article publication. This direction was followed, noting the inability of the public to access the article at will.
ABSTRACT:
“The spaces hip hop takes place in has a large impact on the aesthetics and cultural conventions of rap scenes. Rap scenes in physical locations mirrored the social expectations of those locations. The audience expected the performers to be masculine, straight, and fall in line with racialized notions of behavior. These expectations were enforced informally through consumer tastes, but also formally through which artists labels signed, which artists radio hosts provided air time, and in some cases, threats of violence against those who resided outside of the conventional identities of rap culture.
“Since the late 1990s, artists and fans are no longer restricted to physical spaces to participate in rap culture. Through the internet, artists and fans create their own virtual spaces which are free from the traditional barriers that surround physical scenes. Within virtual scenes it is much more difficult to police behavior due to the anonymous nature of the internet. Furthermore, the financial costs previously associated with producing rap music, like microphones, audio workshops, and distribution channels, are significantly decreased or outright eliminated through free software and digital uploads.
“The main differences between physical and virtual scenes are that previously marginalized identities in rap spaces, especially LGBTQ participants, can carve out spaces for themselves in cyberspace. Furthermore, the aesthetics associated with online culture and digital technology formed the basis for new visual and audio aesthetics in rap culture. Finally, the hierarchy between fans, artists, and industry over who guides rap culture collapses when individuals play all three roles.”
THE REVIEW NOTES:
“Net-rap itself was a term that two artists, DJRe:code and Glacier Baby, suggested I use for this project when I referred to them by incorrect labels” (pg 29).
“This thesis has shown that developments in technology have a drastic impact on rap culture” (pg 29).
goddard. & Glacier Baby, Lights Out, UKF, July 2025,
MashBit, Glacier Baby, Close To The Sun, Crazy Beat Club House, November 2025,
The quote by PK Shellboy qualifies the arc of the article perfectly,
“Just the fact that we are making the music is already political…the fact we exist and are making forward-thinking music is a statement” (pg 25).
PK Shellboy - homewreck (Official Music Video), YouTube, November 2025,
The author makes a compelling argument for the development and progression of internet rap (net-rap). Through a long opening qualification of this point, the author eventually settles into the core work of the argument.
As the article unfolds, perspectives and raised supporting points meander back and forth. This makes the reading a little confusing at first. “Who is the audience for the article?” The original argument takes time to settle, making the article a bit distracting from its important intent. Once passed this initial hurdle, the article begins to unfold the important content the author has worked tirelessly to articulate.
The article takes its time to discuss the meaning and history of Hip Hop. Basing the opening comments on peripheral issues (sexual politics, global discussion boards, interviews, a/political issues, identity shadowing), the article does not at any point relate net-rap to the foundational Message of Hip Hop. A point certainly to rub the wrong way for die-hard Hip Hop Headz and those involved in the culture.
Does Hip Hop Still Have A Message?
The author misses the importance of the continued integration of the core elements of Hip Hop culture (Rap, DJ-ing/Turntabling, Breakdance, Graffiti, Fashion). Added to these later, in the early 1990s, are education/pedagogy and journalism/writing. KRS-ONE has expanded these elements to include an archetypal nine elements (personal interview, November 29, 2025). Central to each of the original elements of Hip Hop is Hip Hop’s “Message,” how Hip Hop expresses a position of social liberty, justice, and counters oppression. This is stated in different areas and in spirit throughout the article. Yet, to make the case for net-rap, these core elements are gathered in isolated areas, then divided based on what the author notes as commercial visibility and community importance. For those deeply immersed in Hip Hop culture, this separation may come across a bit rough.
Reading to the point of net-rap, the author makes the point clear that the core elements of Hip Hop are presented (though later the author makes an argument that some of these core elements are no longer necessary in Hip Hop). But discrediting any one element does reflect an odd curiosity to the rationale.
“Hip Hop always played a role in the formation of cultural identity. However as online presentations make identity more fluid and dynamic, the identities of rappers are less central to the virtual subcultures. One consequence of shifting focus off of artists’ identity was a decrease in political emphasis. Rap music historically served as a voice for the voiceless. Giving a platform to other neglected communities, especially urban black youth in the United States. With the presence of anonymous artists, and the acceptance of non-black rappers in mainstream rap culture, less pressure is put on artists to use their music to spread political messaging” (pg 24).
KRS-One and the Four Core Elements of Hip Hop, NYC Mayor’s Office, August 2023,
The Birth of Hip Hop, Black History in Two Minutes, November 2020,
Do you know all 9 Elements of Hip Hop?, Versa-Sytle Street Dance Company, March 2021,
The author continues to give a thumbnail sketch of how Hip Hop has worked as a vehicle for cultural expression for urban youth (pg 5-6, 8, 24-25, 27-28), which is then signified across multiple borders and communities, expanding to the digital environment, the core arena for the article’s analysis. Placing Hip Hop’s message at such a late point in the article (pg 24) reads odd. The author recalls the origins of Hip Hop to make a dramatic leap forward in the argument for how disenfranchised communities can use the internet to explore community relations, work both politically and apolitically, and contextualize a “message” without the necessity to rely on conscious rap (pg 24-25, 26).
Best of Political / Conscious Rap, Eclectologist, May 2011,
B-Boy/Girl Culture Online
Following this late qualification and inclusion of Hip Hop’s importance, the author overlooks the continued importance of community as it is magnified from the individual, but not limited to this location. The author does claim “delocalization” (pg 3), but along the lines of net-rap, not how this dynamic diaspora of Hip Hop has fed the growth of Hip Hop, both as a market tool and an underground style.
Given the strong surge of the internet and the author’s argument for the importance of establishing a discourse of internet-rap (net-rap), this global-local (glocal) position involves a dialectic discourse between individual and community. This point is subtextually noted throughout (pg 3), yet serves to be expanded and progressed further. The author’s intent on describe a democratizing of the creative process (pg 2) and this contribution to delocalize rap culture (pg 3) takes center stage on the surface and in subtext. The integration of different net-rap artists and collectives from “opposite sides of the globe” (pg 3) is important to the argument to dictate how the internet and net-rap expand social online norms and hetereonormative privilege. Taking advantage of the cited authors who discuss the internet community (Rheingold, Bennett, Haythornewait, pg 3), the author works to underscore a community fingerprint in internet rap (net-rap).
Why Hip Hop is World Culture, Ian Lawrence, TEDxMauerPark, July 2018,
Hip Hop, as an expressive agent, either online or in physicality, is founded on community involvement. The inclusion of the fan discussion boards (pg 2-4) points to this area, which could be progressed further. In addition, by example, the author notes the minimal progress of breakdance to illustrate how Hip Hop has progressed from a localized, street expression to one that is currently integrated with the digital world (pg 28).
Online breakdance groups (i.e., World Breakdance Federation, Break Dance International, United B-Boy World, BBOY World Dance Community, et al) would beg to differ with this point. Online forums for breakdance, specifically, have developed to help promote the visibility, value, and continued importance of this core element in Hip Hop. Dismissing or overlooking this area, as noted by the author (pg 28), can be misleading to a reader, offering a perspective that is not entirely accurate.
Team France vs Team Switzerland, FINAL, European Breaking Tournament 2025, October 2025,
TMB vs Squadron [final], stance x FULL FORCE ANNIVERSARY 2025, February 2025,
B-Girl Logistx vs. B-Girl La Vix, Final, Red Bull BC One Cypher USA 2025, May 2025,
EDM And Global Hip Hop Identity
The article leans toward the progress of electronic dance music (EDM), but does not follow this agenda. It would be useful to see how this area is contextualized in the trajectory of DJ-ing and contemporary scratch culture (i.e., Sktrach 4 Life, Turntablism TV, Turntablism Barcelona, Tableturns, et al), in addition, the dialectic dialogue of Hip Hop is minimized to a Western, economic, commercial identity (pg 8-12). In doing so, the author missed the integrated potential to expose global Hip Hop inclusion as it is referenced in a digital environment. The progress in this area from Africa (Ajayi, Daniel Oluwafemi. ‘Living things’: metaphor and urban youth culture in Abolore Akande Adigun’s (9ice) hip hop music, 2023; Khan, Katy. Cultural authenticity or cultural contamination: American musical influences on South African hip-hop culture, 2015; Sajnani, Damon. East African Hip Hop: Youth Culture and Globalization by Mwenda Ntarangwi, 2015) is one area to note. The author does take the reader through an internet rap globetrotting exposure (pg 14-16) to give evidence for the growth and globalization of internet art, culture, and music.
Goya Menor & Nektunez - Ameno Amapiano (You Wanna Bamba) [David Guetta Remix], May 2022,
KARABA, Deep Afro House, April 2022,
HOMEBROS, Afro Dance Choreography (Ft. J Funk), Mayoral Training Camp, November 2019,
African digital Hip Hop artists have followed the historical evolution the author presents from the dance halls to the mixtape, the CD, and the eventual online platform. In doing so, African digital Hip Hop artists reframe their community from a local to a global (glocal) identity. As the author notes, the digital environment grants liberty for identity expression and coding (Artistic identity and presentation: political, personal, and digital, pg 17-27).
“Relating to their fans extends beyond lyrics or personal interactions, some artists use anonymity and vocal modulation to remove personal aspects of themselves which may alienate certain audiences” pg 19).
For African Hip Hop digital artists, in particular, taking active advantage of the digital divide heightens local value, importance, and frames an identity of knowledge and (street) power.
The article takes a particular interest in the global south (read: Australia). The author includes his conversation with the transgender Australian rapper/producer doin’ fine (aka Vriska), which is useful to this point (pg 22). Citing Crash Blossoms (pg 23) and their global members points to this potential to explore more, and on a wide range (see quote by Michael Waugh, pg 23). The author gives a fertile foundation to this direction. The further review, global inclusion, and gender sovereignty witnessed online could be stated in the closing section of the article.
The author makes a statement that gives the intent for this point to be further developed, perhaps in a subsequent article: “Music production and promotion before the internet was expensive, but the social barriers added even further difficulties for minority artists” (pg 21). Taking advantage of this minor point, which is used by the author to explore queer and marginalized communities who use the internet for positive Hip Hop expression, affords a similar context to how other marginalized and oppressed communities utilize the internet (net-rap) for positive identity expression and community exposure.
“Online, members of marginalized groups can create virtual spaces for themselves where they have the power to ban hateful individuals, as well as cultivate and participate in communities which are tolerable and celebrate their presence” (pg 22).
Anonymous Identity, Performing Net-Rap Identity
The inclusion of Yabujin, the Lithuanian net-rap artist (pg 20), provides a good opportunity to highlight the value of other similar global net-rap artists.
When the author speaks to the anonymity of net-rappers (pg 20) “[o]ther net-artists exist in an even further realm of anonymity. These artists do not use mystique as a creative strategy, but rather because they do not wish to be discovered at” this has the potential to juxtapose how, as the author presents (pg 19-20), of how identity (read: braggadocio, bragging) is valued and becomes more elusive given the online platform. This is teased where a bit more attention would be useful, given that many readers may not be exposed to net-rap/internet-rap, or the global expression and value of this art form. Most readers may be limited in their relationship and knowledge of Hip Hop, coming from the 1990s-2000s gangster identity (pg 19), which the author recounts. The added variation to identity anonymity, performance, and creation gives more leverage to the points made by the author.
Many are familiar with the “keyboard warrior” statement, but is this the level of anonymity being utilized and reconstructed by net-rappers and their collectives? Since sexual politics, gender identity, and countering hertero-norms online hold a strong position in the article, giving the surface inclusion to this point by the author could serve more involvement. Noting that the author was able to interview multiple net-rappers, and in one case, joint members from a “mythological” net-rap group, the concept of anonymity could become a complete section. There is attention given to this point, but, taking the author’s strong emphasis on this point, readers would like to see this area progress.
Language As Expression
The author continues to express Hip Hop in the diminutive form, “hip hop.” Without justification, this counters the important argument supporting Hip Hop culture, which the author promotes. Written elsewhere, some authors include a hyphen (“hip-hop”) separating the two words. This presents a separation at the core analysis and pedagogy of Hip Hop culture. It has been argued that the hyphen is a binding agent (see R. J. Riesch. Hip Hop Culture: History and Trajectory, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2005). However, visually, the hyphen contextualizes a divide that is counter to Hip Hop’s ethic. The use of Hip Hop in the diminutive reference (“hip hop”), likewise, visually announces a subdominant identity of Hip Hop. The author is careful to outline a trajectory of internet-rap/net-rap, but includes Hip Hop discourse in a subdominant position. This counters the arguments outlined by the author.
Hip Hop is not a subdominant cultural expression, nor should the branches of Hip Hop’s diaspora be considered as such. Positioning Hip Hop as a proper term would strengthen the arguments and historical outline the author constructs.
The author inconsistently articulates Hip Hop from a proper term to the diminutive (pg 24, 28). This needs to be adjusted or, at least, why there is a need to cross-reference Hip Hop through these different representations.
The author’s inclusion of net-rap as a “subculture” (pg 27), though arguable, does serve a purpose in this article. Stating that Hip Hop is a subculture is contested elsewhere (Alim, George, Nelson, et al). The foundations of Hip Hop discourse, and its related genres, are clearly stated, identified, and appropriated in academics, mainstream culture, and the “street.” Hip Hop is not a subculture by any extent or means.
The author is clear with the argument around net-rap as being a marginalized, dynamic, isolated, polarizing art form, capturing signifiers of Hip Hop culture, specifically rap, and working this discipline through an underground digital labyrinth artistically and reaching into identity expression. Spread out through the article, the included point to reference net-rap as a subculture functions here less as a minimizing reference but one that defines the working process of artists in this area (pg 2). Making this point a bit more clear, the use of the term “subculture” to identify net-rap, as recognized and supported by net-rap artists, collectives, and fans, is important to further emphasize. Though stated on the prephiery, this point would serve the article well to be clarified.
Hip Hop’s Diaspora
Hip Hop has a dynamic diaspora. Diasporic motion is typically recognized in a singular trajectory, from one position to another, with a conclusive settled position. However, Hip Hop’s diasporic motion is dynamic and fluctuates between locations, local-global (glocal), and accumulates multiple identities throughout. This gives rise to and representation of the pluralities of Hip Hop culture without minimizing, submitting, or devaluing the core elements of Hip Hop: (DJ-ing/Turntabling, MC/Rap, Breakdance, Graffiti, Fashion, Education/Pedagogy, Journalism). The author could include this point, which is flirted with subtextually in various areas in the article (pg 8, 27-28).
Hip Hop’s dynamic diaspora, when included in a digital environment and credibly expressed as to how this diaspora explores as a dialectic dialogue agent for Hip Hop, can strengthen the foundational argument by the author for the importance and ongoing expanding value of internet-rap/net-rap.
Closing Points:
The work provided by the author is necessary at the current date and time, 2025. The collected history, interviews, resources, and recordings outline the contemporaneousness of this article and establish the argument for more work to be done in this area.
Future work in this area needs to be articulated with possible direction suggestions. This gives the reader an insight into the breadth and depth of this work in an academic scaffolding and in the public sector. Knowing and writing for the audience, albeit fans, academics, insiders, or outsiders, is useful to the extent that the work is aligned with similar scholarship. Taking a lay reader through the rigors of academic discourse does serve its purpose; likewise, the inverse is equally credible. A balance between these two poles, in narrative and content presentation style, would highlight this work further in the eyes of both parties. “But until then, [we’ll] enjoy the music” (pg 30).
Alan Lechusza Aquallo
www.interdisciplinaryindigenoushiphopnetwork.wordpress.com
#xsitethecall #xsitethechange